Dry-cleaning machine.



E. Y. WHITE. DRY CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 3, 1911.

1,100,334. Patented June 16, 1914.

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DRY GLEANING MACHINE.

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Patented June 16, 19%

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aid M 0 @aML/w m 2 JlJl IP E Y WHITE DRY CLEANING MACHINE APPLICATIONFILED OCT 8 1911 F/a4, I

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c y M EDWARD YOUNG WHITE, 01; SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS DRY-GLEANING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 16, 1914.

Application filed October 3, 1911. Serial No. 652,589.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, EDWARD Y. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of San Antonio, Texas, have invented a new and usefulDry-Cleaning Machine, of which the-following is a specification.

My invention relates to a dry cleaning machine; that is, amachine forcleaning by the use of gasolene or a medium of like nature. a

Among the more important objects of the invention are to reducetheamount of gasolene necessarily used at any one time; to providemeans. for keeping the gasolene clean while in use and for straining anddrawing off the gasolene from time to time; to provide easy means forplacing garments, etc, in the drum and to remove them and to enable thisto be done while the drum is revolving; to improve the construction ofthe drum and its rubbing action upon the garments, and to provide meansfor supplying moisture to the machine to prevent ignition of thecleansing fluid by static discharges caused by the operation of themachine.

In the accompanying drawing I show one exemplifying structure in whichthe'invention is embodied but it is to be understood that the inventionmay be embodied in different ways.

Figure 1 is a front viewmainly in elevation but partly in section. Fig.2 is a vertical section in the plane of the shaft axis. Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of the drum. Fig. 4 is a transverse section at one side of thecenter ring.

Reference character D designates the drum as a whole and C the casing,which is conveniently circular in front elevation and of modifiedV-shape in longitudinal section as shown in Fig. 2 to closely conform tothe similar outline of the drum. By reason of this construction of thedrum and casing, a relatively small quantity of gasolene carried in thelower portion of the casing, circulates through the drum and issuliicient for cleaning purposes. IVith drums'and casings as ordinarilyconstructed, it' is necessary to carry five or six times as muchgasolene in the casing in order to raise the fluid to approximately thesame level.

The casing is conveniently supported by pedestal P forming a reservoir Rcommunicating with the casing. Gasolene pipe 1 communicates with thisreservoir for the easy supply of the cleaning fluid. At the staticcharges.

bottom of the reservoir is a trough shaped screen 2, which may beremoved through a trap 3 provided with a quick-acting fastening device4. Impurities removed from garments, etc., in cleaning, settle in thereservoir R and the coarser part of these are caught by the screen 2.Below the screen is a sump or drain passage 5 communicating with anoutside'trap 6. From the bottom of this trap the used gasolene may bedrawn off by gravityby pipe 7. The gasolene may also be pumped off'throu h pipe 8 of which a vertical leg 9 passes tiro'ugh the top of thetrap and terminates at 10 somewhat above the bottom thereof. Pipes 7 and8 are 7 provided with valves 11.

It has been found that in the operation of dry cleaning machines,particularly in dry weather, the gasolene is sometimes ignited byelectric sparks caused by static charges, generated by the machine. Thisdanger is guarded against in some cases by saturating the entireatmosphere of the room with moisture but this expedient is inconvenientand undesirable for various reasons. I provide means for supplyingmoisture to the machine itself to prevent accumulation of In theparticular embodiment of the invention shown, this means consists of adevice for moistening air supplied to the casing. The water chamber 20issecured adjacent to the casing. This may consist of a shell 21, whichmay be of glass or other suitable material, and heads 22 secured againstthe heads of the shell by bolts 23, or the chamber may be of any otherconvenient construction. .The chamber 20 is filled through block 22 withwater to a suitable level, and the chamber may be cleaned out by openingavalve in the pipe 24 leading from the bottom of the chamber to thesewer. Air is supplied through pipe 25 which conveniently passes throughthe top of the chamber and terminates within the chamber at 26 near thebottom thereof. The water level may be at any suitable point above theend of pipe 25. Surrounding the pipe near the upper end of the chamberImay provide a suitable plurality of bafiie plates 27. Pipe 28connectsthe upper part of the water chamber with the interior of thecasing C. At the top of the casing is a ventilating outlet 30 throughwhich suitable pipes or'flues may lead to the outer air. "Vhen themachine is in operation water is maintained at a suitable level inchamber 20. Air is supplied in suitable quantities through pipe 26 andpasses up through the body of water, becoming impregnated w th moistureand this moisture is thoroughly 1ncorporated with the air by bafiieplates 27. The moistened air then passes through pipe 28 to the casingand drum and insures a thoroughly moist atmosphere in the machine andincontact with'aii its working surfaces so that the accumulationofstatic charges is effectively prevented.

The drum D comprises a rear header 40 provided with shaft, 41 and afront ringshaped header 42 of quite large diameter. shaft 41 revolves ina bearing 43 at the rear of the casing and front header 42 revolves in aroller bearing 43, provided, in the front end 44 of the casing. This endof the casing is closed by a door 45. The ring-shaped header 42 providesan axial opening for the insertion and removal of garments and fab-'rics, and this loading and unloading of the a drum may be accomplishedeasily while the latter is in operation A great saving of time andcorresponding economy is thus "effected since,' ordinari y, thesemachines must be stopped at frequent intervals for loading and unloadingthrough doors which must be specially positioned to makethem accessibleand also to avoid loss of the cleansing fluid. The drum is revolved byany suitable mechanism 50, the details of which do not form a part ofthis invention.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the drum comprises the headers just describedand a center ring 60 provided with apertures 61 for the circulation ofthe fluid. Between the center ring and each of the headers are woodenstaves 62. The whole structure is secured together by rods 63 andsuitable iastening nuts intermediate the center ring nd each of theheaders. These staves form solid sides of the drum between the headersand the. ring, The interior faces of the staves are provided withcorrugations 65, and in operation these rub against the clothes, theengagement being increased by the wedging effect of the mass of garmentsat the bottom of the drum.

I claim 1. In cleaning apparatus, the combination of a casing, asettling reservoir at the bottom thereof, a trap connected with thereservoir, a drain pipe leading from the bottom of the trap, a pumppipe-leading from the trap, a strainer between the reservoir and thetrap, and a door for the removal of the strainer.

'2. In cleaning apparatus, the combination of a casing, a drum therein,a journal carried by the drum and revolving in a bearing at one end ofthe casing an enlarged journal. at the other end of the drum revolvingin a bearing in the casing, said enlarged journal having an openingtherethrough for filling and emptying the drum.

3. In cleanin apparatus, the combination of a casing, a rum therein,bearings at opposite ends of the casing for the drum, a

journal at one end of the drum revolving in one ofthe bearings, aring-shaped journal at the other end of the drum revolving in theother-bearing, said ring-shaped journal providin an opening therethroughaffording facility for filling and emptying the drum.

4. In cleaning apparatus comprising a casing, a rotary cleaning member,means for saturating the air inside the case with moisture to preventthe occurrence of electric sparks caused by the movement of theapparatus.

5. In cleaning apparatus, the combination of a casing having a bearingat one end and a relatively larger bearing at the other end, a drum inthe casing, a shaft on the drum revolving in the bearing firstmentioned, and a ring-shaped enlarged journal at the other end of thedrum revolving in said enlarged bearing, said enlarged journal having anopening therethrough affording ample facilities for filling anu emptyingthe drum.

EDWARD YOUNG WHITE.

\Vitnesses TOM. BER'roH, T. H. WARNER.

